About legacy media in iMovie for macOS

Legacy media files are compatible with macOS Mojave, but they won't be with future macOS releases. Legacy media can include footage recorded with cameras like Flip Video cameras, footage from GoPro cameras recorded in the CineForm format, video files in the DivX format created with software, footage shot with many other older cameras, or files modified with older software.

While your Mac is running macOS Mojave, follow the steps in this article to back up your iMovie libraries, and complete and update projects that contain legacy media.

Back up your iMovie library

Before completing projects, back up your iMovie library. You can store your iMovie library on an external storage device such as a USB drive, FireWire drive, or Thunderbolt drive formatted as APFS or MacOS Extended (Journaled).1 Don't store iMovie libraries on external storage devices like SD cards, USB flash drives, drives shared on a network, or an external drive or other disk used for Time Machine backups.

Click on the Finder icon in the Dock, then choose Go > Home from the menu bar at the top of your screen.

Open the Movies folder, then drag files named iMovie Library and iMovie Theater to your external hard drive.2

1 The APFS format is recommended for volumes using macOS 10.13 or later.

2 In most cases you have only one library, and it's located in the Movies folder. However, you might have more than one library, and you might have moved them to a different location on your Mac. Make sure to locate and back up all iMovie libraries.

Finish iMovie projects with legacy media

After you back up your library, finish editing any iMovie projects that have legacy media, then export them as QuickTime movies.

To open the Projects view, choose Window > Go to Projects, or press 2.

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